New year, new content: 10 streaming premieres in January 2025

The first month of the new year brings us Season 2 of Severance, a brilliant workplace drama from Apple TV+. But what about completely new shows? Here’s our choice of the best.

Don't Die: The Man Who Wants To Live Forever (Netflix, January 1st)

Begin your year with an inside look at a tech millionaire’s quest to conquer death and essentially live forever. Yes, Bryan Johnson is conducting a scientific experiment on himself, and Netflix has documented it.

A dive into Johnson’s anti-aging crusade is directed by Chris Smith who was also behind Tiger King and Fyre, so we can expect a truly interesting look at the entrepreneur’s ambitions.

Johnson will die – as will we all – but the documentary might help you change your habits and indeed live longer, healthier lives. For starters, you could drink less and go to bed earlier, experts say.

Cunk on Life (Netflix, January 2nd)

Sadly, Netflix has chosen to no longer stream Charlie Brooker’s mockumentaries where he himself stars and bashes the world around him. But Brooker is, of course, still around with his Black Mirror series, for example.

He also created the mockumentary miniseries Cunk on Earth, in which comedian Diane Morgan portrays clueless reporter Philomena Cunk interviewing real-life experts on topics ranging from religion to the Industrial Revolution.

The format now returns with a one-off special as Cunk delves into what it means to be human and attempts to understand quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and biology. We’re sure you’ll love how Cunk uncovers “the point of it all.”

Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (Peacock, January 2nd)

We’ll have to wait a bit longer until Netflix and BBC show their own drama series Lockerbie, revolving around the 1988 flight disaster of Pan Am Flight 103. But a competing project from Peacock and Sky will already be available on January 2nd.

The miniseries stars Colin Firth as the spokesperson for families of the victims – there were 270 fatalities in total – as he battles over 30 years to find out the truth behind the terrorist attack.

Today we know that the passenger plane was destroyed by a bomb. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi accepted the country’s responsibility for the bombing in 2003.

Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action (Netflix, January 7th)

It’s getting more difficult to remember but in the ‘90s, most Americans had an opinion about Jerry Springer, the controversial host of an even more controversial daytime Jerry Springer Show that ran for 27 seasons.

Chairs flew, people screamed, and romances exploded – the production, sometimes called the worst TV show of all time, was so wild that some began questioning whether things should really go that far in the name of entertainment.

Now, Netflix promises to tell “the story of the show as it’s never been told before, with extraordinary firsthand testimony and revelations from show insiders who lay bare the dark truths behind its entertaining facade.”

American Primeval (Netflix, January 9th)

Miniseries are great – they have a beginning, a rather quick end, and you don’t have to wait months until another, typically disappointing season. So we’ll definitely try out American Primeval on Netflix.

The Western series, starring Taylor Kitsch, follows the brutal American frontier in 1857, during one of the nation’s most tumultuous periods. Multiple groups – religious factions, cults, and individuals – fight for power and control over the land. This is the way the American West was born.

Netflix has received praise for attempting to authentically depict the lives of Native Tribes that have, of course, long occupied the lands.

On Call (Amazon Prime Video, January 9th)

What do we have here? Another procedural? Indeed, On Call is precisely that, another procedural police drama. But the show is also different.

Each episode is only half an hour long and explores the intricacies of police officers protecting a community in Long Beach, California.

Besides, the show incorporates a mixture of bodycam, dash-camera, and cellphone footage to create a cinema verité effect. The trailer is captivating, and the series stars Lori Loughlin, released from prison in December 2020 after serving almost two months for her role in the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal – you can learn about this one in a Netflix documentary, by the way.

The Pitt (Max, January 9th)

The Pitt, a medical procedural about an overworked ER doctor at a major Pittsburgh hospital, sounds an awful lot like the good old hit ER.

But there’s also a bit of 24 in it. Each of the first season’s 15 near-real-time episodes focuses on a single hour in a 15-hour shirt for Dr. Robby Robinavitch. We have mental breakdowns, workplace politics, feelings – the usual.

The show looks promising enough so, even though everyone’s talking about Severance’s second season, it’s probably wise to give The Pitt a chance as well.

Prime Target (Apple TV+, January 22nd)

Apple TV+ hasn’t yet released the official trailer of Prime Target but the premise of this eight-episode conspiracy thriller sure sounds interesting.

It tells the story of a talented mathematician on the verge of a major breakthrough involving prime numbers – one that would render most current encryption algorithms useless. Quite obviously, the young genius becomes the target of unknown enemies.

If that’s not enough, the show stars Leo Woodall of the White Lotus fame and is produced by Ridley Scott.

Whiskey on the Rocks (Hulu, January 22nd)

The Death of Stalin was spectacular but the film had Armando Ianucci behind it. Whiskey on the Rocks, the first Nordic series to premiere on Hulu and Disney+, is another political satire inspired by real events and produced in cooperation with SVT, Sweden’s national broadcaster.

The first reviews from Sweden, where the miniseries has already aired, are mixed. It’s a comedy about very serious events, though, so different opinions are certain.

What’s it about then? In the early hours of October 28th, 1981, a Soviet nuclear Whiskey class submarine was spotted aground inside a restricted Swedish military area. The world teetered on the brink of disaster.

It all ended peacefully, of course. But the creators of the show chose to follow the unofficial Soviet explanation at the time – that a wild drinking party on board had caused the grounding. This was widely discredited by the Swedes as implausible for a number of reasons – but it’s a great starting point for a comedy series, isn’t it?

You're Cordially Invited (Amazon Prime Video, January 30th)

Finally, a movie. A comedy. An opportunity to lower your expectations and simply enjoy the storyline – even if it’s not much, really.

The synopsis is classic comedy soap – a bride and her dad discover their dream wedding venue has already been booked for another bride by her wedding-planner sister. The consequences? Marketing calls them “hilarious” but they’re probably predictable.

Still, the film should be good fun, especially since it stars America’s darling Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell.